Forbidden Love
by starlightwonder
Summary: A couple that most people wouldn't expect together...but what will happen when everybody finds out? R/R!
1. The Beginning

[A/N: Okay, people, PLEASE go read my other Harry Potter fic! It's short, but it's (hopefully) good and I'd really appreaciate it if you'd R/R it! Okay, that's all I had to say, so enjoy this one!]  
  
  
  
  
  
It felt so wonderful...to just lay there in his arms...not speaking, not moving, barely even breathing. How had this happened? It was supposed to be forbidden. Did she care? Did either of them care? She didn't know, and at the moment, it didn't really matter because she had everything she needed in his embrace.   
  
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"Harry, why don't you try studying instead of playing those childish games?" Hermione sternly looked down the bridge of her nose at Harry and Ron, who were playing a game of Wizard's Chess instead of studying for the Transifguration and Divination exams.   
  
  
  
"Now, now, Hermione, we can't all be brilliant like you. So we figure--why bother?" Harry looked up at her, winking behind his glasses. She couldn't help but crack a smile. Even at 16, his boyish face still held that mischiveous look. No wonder she had been in love with him for three years. She was over that though...she never confessed to him how she felt, so it didn't end because he didn't return her feelings...it just ended. She didn't have an explination for it, which was a surprise, as she had an explination for everything.   
  
"Yeah, and besides, we've got better things to do than study for some stupid exam, Minny." Ron ducked the book she heaved at him, then grinned. "I thought you got over the fact that you hate your nickname." He went on, ignoring the glares that shot his way from Hermione's eyes. "It's lunch time, lets go, I'm starved!"  
  
  
  
As they made their way down the Grand Staircase, Hermione felt eyes on her back. She turned around, looking to see if anybody was watching her, but the flight of stairs behind her was deserted. She shrugged it off as exam jitters--even though she never got those--and continued to the Great Hall. After they sat down, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, strolled in like they owned the place. Hermione watched them as they manuevered their way around the crowd to take their seats at the Slytherin table. Having grown into a 6 foot and ideally built 16 year old, Malfoy was drop dead gorgeous...and he knew it. He walked past the many girls who had their heads turned, paying no attention to any of them. Out of nowhere, his head turned to where Hermione was sitting, his icy blue eyes fixed on her cinnamon brown ones. She felt her cheeks flush, and lowered her eyes into her goblet of pumpkin juice. Even though he had been so horrible to her in their early years, something about Malfoy had always intrigued her.   
  
  
  
"Uh, Hermione? Have you been listening to a word that I've been telling you?" She snapped out of her little daze to realize that she'd totally missed everything Ron and Harry had been saying to her.   
  
  
  
"Oh, sorry, you guys. I kinda had my mind on other things, I guess..." Ron shrugged and went on talking, his mouth full of mashed potatoes.   
  
  
  
"Anyway, then Parvati says to me..." Hermione tried to pay attention, but her mind kept floating off. During their fifth year, Draco cornered her in the potion dungeons. He apologized for saying everything he said, telling Hermione that he never meant any of it. He was practically brainwashed by his father. He played along for two years, then realized what a jerk he was being. He wanted to be her friend, but he didn't know how to come out to her face and tell her everything until then. His father still thought he was a pure-blood fanatic, but at heart he was a regular guy. They had been close friends for the rest of that year, and the beginning of this one. They could never let anybody know, however, because it would mean rejection from both houses. Besides, it was a little bit exciting, having to pretend like they hated each other, and then having a secret friendship. It added an extra spark...not that Hermione needed one, what with being best friends with Harry and Ron.  
  
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"Well, well, well, if it isn't Saint Potter." The slow drawl of Malfoy's voice had somehow slipped up behind them, as they made their way towards the Transfiguration classroom. "And I see he's got his usual companions, Weasel and the Muggle." Hermione was awed--the way he sneered at her was almost believeable. She snapped out of it and regained her composure, sending the same dagger-like glares at him that Harry and Ron were.   
  
  
  
"Go to hell, you snake!" Ron, the more agressive of the three, had fire in his eyes. Ever since Malfoy's father slipped Tom Riddle's old diary into his sister's cauldron, Ron had it out for him.   
  
  
  
"Temper, temper. You'd better watch your mouth, Weasley, or we'll have to wash it out with soap." Malfoy chuckled.  
  
  
  
"You might want to use some of that soap you speak of on your greasy hair," Hermione spat out. She was getting pretty good at acting like she hated Malfoy, but she was rather tired of it. Even though it added a small amount of excitement, she wanted it put to an end. It was the same routine, over and over again. One insult after another, and then in privacy, nothing exchanged but sincere compliments and friendly conversations. When would it change? Maybe that wasn't the question she should be asking herself. Maybe, the real question was not when, but was it even possible... 


	2. Warmth

[Disclaimer for this chapter, last chapter, and every chapter for every story that I've forgotten a disclamier for. I own none of this, except characters emotions and the plot lines, so step. =^^=!]   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In her dream, she was cold. She sat up, shivering, trying to find where the coldness came from, but it was impossible. It was like it surrounded her. It sunk into her skin, ate through her bones...the only thought that crept through her mind was "I'm going to die here." Just as she managed to draw in one final, shuddering, breath, a sudden warmth came over her. It was like somebody wrapped their arms around her, and was giving all their warmth to her.   
  
  
  
She sat up in her bed, shivering. The coldness from her dream was still there, running up and down her spine. She looked at the other girls in the room--Parvati, Lavender, Ginny. All three were asleep, obviously not noticing the chill in the room. She looked around, trying to find the source. "Aha, I'm not insane after all!" She thought to herself when she noticed the open window behind her. She put her feet on the cold hardwood floor, then drew them back because of the sudden shock. She drew in a large breath, then ran on tiptoes to the window and eased it shut. Snuggling back underneath the covers, she tried to recall the dream she had woken so suddenly from. It was blurry now, everything floating away, like dreams usually do. All she could remember was the overwhelming cold, then the comforting warmth. The quilts covering her small body equaled that warmth, and she slowly drifted back to sleep.  
  
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The next morning, after a quick shower, Hermione joined Harry and Ron outside the common room. As the trio made their way to breakfast, Ron discussed the list going around school, for students to sign if they were staying at Hogwarts for Christmas holidays. "I'm staying. My parents are going off to visit Fred and George in Germany."  
  
  
  
"Why can't you go with them? I thought you missed Fred and George." Harry remarked.  
  
  
  
"I miss THEM, but I cannot stand their bugger kids!" The shocked looks from Harry and Hermione caused him to hastily explain, "Well, you'd dislike them too, if they somehow managed to turn every pillow in the whole house into a big, hairy, spider. It was like the teddy bear incident all over again..." he trailed off, and shuddered. Ron hated spiders. "Anyhow, you're staying, right Harry?"  
  
  
  
"Of course! D'you honestly think that I'd voluntarily choose to spend my holiday with those...those...well, you know what I mean!" He smiled at Ron and Hermione, both of them knowing good and well exactly what Harry meant. The Dursleys, whom Harry stayed with when he wasn't at Hogwarts, were the meanest muggles you could imagine. As soon as Harry arrived on their front stoop, they practically disowned him because of what he was--even before he knew it.   
  
  
  
Ron looked past Harry to Hermione. "How about you, Minny? It won't be a party without you!" She playfully stuck her tounge out at her hated nickname, then gave her reply. "Yeah, I have no choice but to stay. My parents are going to a dental convention in America...they've been waiting for it for six years. I love my parents, but I'd hate to be a muggle." Harry and Ron laughed at her joke, and the three stepped in the double doors leading into the Great Hall. The enchanted ceiling showed the sky outside as being a milky white, the clouds hanging over the tables threatening to snow at any given moment.   
  
  
  
Soon after sitting down to eat, the familiar hooting of owls announced that the post was arriving. Pig, Ron's teeny, spastic owl, (who looked more like a fluffy tennis ball) barreled into Ron's chest, knocking the wind of out him. Regaining his composure, he tried to snatch the letter tied around Pig's leg, which went rather unsucessfully, as Pig kept jumping around in circles, hooting frantically. Hermione finally held him down while Ron managed to finally untie the message from the insane bird. Pig, thinking it all a game, only hooted louder, causing almost every head in the Great Hall to turn and stare at the commotion.  
  
  
  
Hermione felt her cheeks flush red when she noticed that Malfoy was one of the many students who had their attention on their dilemma with Pig. He caught her gaze, causing her cheeks to turn even redder, if possible, and then halfway smiled before turning back to his breakfast.  
  
  
  
"So, what's the news from the mentally challenged Pig today, Ron?" Harry had turned his attention to the note Ron held in his hand, crumpled and ripped from the struggle with Pig.   
  
  
  
"Oh...it's nothing. Don't worry about it." The redness in his face and on the back of his neck now rivaled Hermione's. He tried to stuff the note in his pocket, but Harry grabbed it from him, and read aloud:  
  
  
  
  
  
'Dear Ron-  
  
I'm glad I finally got your reply! The little ball of...well, energy, you could say, kept me busy for almost an hour, trying to tear your message away from him. I'm guessing that he's your owl--I think he's adorable! Anyway, school here is going okay...I just can't wait to go back home for the Christmas Holidays. My mother says we'll be able to visit your village again at Easter, to see my cousins, and maybe we'll meet up sometime. I'm looking forward to seeing you again!-  
  
Beatrice'  
  
  
  
  
  
"Hmmm...Beatrice...I'm not familiar with this name, Ron. Do tell." Harry leaned across the table, holding his head in his hands, staring at Ron with a huge grin on his face.  
  
  
  
Ron mumbled something incoherent and lowered his head so that he stared into his lap. "What was that, Ron?"  
  
  
  
"I said," Ron growled through gritted teeth, "that she's French, and her cousins live down the road from our house. I met her over summer break, and she's very...well..." he trailed off, his stare once again going back into his lap.  
  
  
  
Harry tried to hide his laughter from his best friend, and finally regained his composure. After swigging down pumpkin juice, he decided to take pity on Ron and change the subject. As he talked, Hermione's thoughts turned into another direction. "Lets see...Ron has his little interested, Beatrice. It's obvious that Harry and Ginny have eyes only for each other...so where does this leave me?"  
  
  
  
As if he had been reading her mind, Malfoy glanced up from across the room, and his ice blue eyes flashed. 


	3. Everybody's Got an Angel

[Disclaimer: Same song, second verse, a little bit louder a little bit worse. You know how it goes, sing along! ^-^!]  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Hermione sighed contently as she walked out of the Arithmancy classroom. Harry and Ron would be just finishing up their Divination exam, and the three would more than likely collapse in the common room, glad to finaly be free for Christmas holidays. As happy as she was to take a break, she knew that tomorrow she would be sitting in her room, studying for the next semester.   
  
  
  
"Hey, Minny! Wait up!" Hermione gave an exasperated sigh and turned around, waiting on Ron and Harry to catch up. They hopped the last few steps coming from the North Tower. Ron winked at her when he saw her expression, and threw his arm around her neck when he caught up with her. "Come on, Minny, lighten up! It's the holidays! You can live with your nickname during the holidays, can't you?"  
  
  
  
"Fine, I guess so. How was your exam?" She laughed as she saw the reaction the question caused. "That bad, huh?"  
  
  
  
"No, but the headache that lingers is worse that usual. She had even more of those weird fumes wafting about. Bloody hell, that woman is going to kill us one of these days!" Ron shook his head, as to get rid of any thoughs of Professer Trelawney and her strange classroom. "But, lets not think about that. It's the holidays! We're going to Hogsmeade, aren't we? It's the last chance to shop for presents for your FRIENDS and loved ones!" Emphasizing the word friends, Ron cast a meaningful glance at Harry and Hermione, and the three headed towards the common room.  
  
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"Okay, you two. We split up after this last Butterbeer, and meet back at the gates after we're done shopping, right?" Harry took a swig of his drink, relishing the warmth that flowed down his throat. The trio were sitting in the Three Broomsticks, surrounded by the crowd of usual customers. Seven or eight goblins were seated at a table in the corner, conversing loudly in their confusing language. It was the last Hogsmeade trip of the semester, and they were using it to their advantage.   
  
  
  
"Right. And Ron, don't pull the same trick you pulled last year! If we catch you following us around, your presents are going to Dobby," Hermoine reprimanded him. The previous year, Hermione and Harry caught Ron hiding behind display cases, trying to see what they were buying for him. They laughed about it, but hated that Ron ruined the surprise. They weren't going to let it happen again.  
  
  
  
"All right, all right, just ruin my fun. It was just a joke, anyway. Are we ready?" Ron downed the rest of his butterbeer and set it on the table with a thud. "For once in my life I have money burning a hole in my pocket!" The three stood up from their chairs and split up, Hermione heading towards Zonko's and Harry and Ron heading towards Honeydukes.   
  
  
  
Hermione stepped across the threshhold into Zonko's joke shop. She turned her head back and looked out the window, into the grey and cloudy sky. It still looked like it was due to snow at any minute, but nothing had happened since the clouds showed up a few days ago. She turned back around, facing what seemed like miles of display cases, showing off potential presents for Harry and Ron. Drawing in a breath, she started off towards a row of Stink Pellets, Dungbombs, and other various aroma causing products.   
  
  
  
"Hey, Hermione." A voice behind her made her jump, and she whirled around. She came face to face with Draco Malfoy, who was standing his full six feet, his blonde hair falling into his face. Quite attractively, actually. Hermione shook this thought from her mind, chasing it away with the reminder that even though they could be friends, she could NEVER be attracted to him. Never. It was forbidden.   
  
  
  
"Are...are you okay? You look kind of like you're spacing out...or something. Hermione?" Malfoy reached out and touched her arm, bringing hermione back to reality. His hand on her arm felt like electricity and she jumped back. "Are you okay?" Malfoy inquired again.   
  
  
  
"Oh...yeah, yeah I'm fine." Her voice was shaky, and she cursed herself for flinching at his touch. "Shopping for anybody in particular?" She fingered a package of Smell Pastels (Art supplies for the creative prankster), avoiding eye contact. She was blushing enough, and she didn't want Malfoy to ask questions.  
  
  
  
"No, not really. Pansy dragged me down here...she's looking for something to send to her little sister." He rolled his eyes and flicked his head towards Pansy's bobbing head two rows over. Pansy hated Hermione.   
  
  
  
"Oh. Are you two...an item?"  
  
  
  
"Nah...she's crazy about me though, so I figure I'll just play along." As much as Malfoy had changed, there were some things that would always stay the same. Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed.  
  
  
  
"Oh well that's just lovely. Did you ever think of Pansy's feelings? She's human, too! I mean, I know that Pansy and I have had our share of disagreements, but that doesn't mean that it's okay for you to lie to her and make her think that you're interested when you're really not and-" Hermione let all of this out very fast, and was planning on saying more, but Malfoy put his hand over her mouth to quiet her.   
  
  
  
"Pansy's coming. I gotta go, before she sees us together and asks questions. You're staying at Hogwarts, right?" Malfoy asked in a quiet whisper. Hermione nodded. "Good. I'll see you there." He turned and walked over to Pansy. She looked over her shoulder at Hermione and sneered, then snaked her arm across Malfoys back.   
  
  
  
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"Finally! Hermione, you took forever!" After leaving Zonko's and heading to Honeydukes, Hermoine glanced at the clock tower at Hogsmeade and found she was 20 minutes late meeting Harry and Ron. She bolted from the door of Honeydukes to the gate, where Harry was waiting on her, without Ron.   
  
  
  
"I'm sorry, Harry, I just lost track of time," Hermione said breathlessly. Harry glanced at her, shrugged, and took her bags.   
  
  
  
"I"ll carry these for you. You look like you could collapse! Ron got tired of waiting and took off to the castle. I think he was planning on writing his reply to Beatrice." He chuckled, then continued to talk. "I got some great presents for you guys. Oh, I wanna show you what I got for Ginny. I think she'll love it, don't you?" As he was speaking, he pulled a small box out of one of the bags that he was carrying on his arm. He opened it and revealed a heart pendant, with the words, "I love you" on the back.   
  
  
  
Hermione smiled up at him. "I think she'll love it, Harry. I'm glad that the two of you finally got together."   
  
  
  
"Thanks, Hermione. It seems like everybody has somebody these days."  
  
  
  
"Yeah, except for me. Everybody's got an angel...everybody but me." 


	4. Christmas

[Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, because I'm not brilliant enough to come up with Harry Potter. But I own the plot line, and that's something to be proud of, no? =^-^=!]  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Hermione! Hermione! Wake up and come downstairs!" Hermione woke to a pounding on her door. She sat up, still in that half-awake half-asleep stage, and then realized why Harry was frantically knocking on the door. "It's Christmas!"  
  
  
  
She jumped out of bed, ignoring the usual sting that the cold hardwood floors gave her feet. Glancing at Ginny, she was relieved to see that she was still asleep. They had talked about this the night before--Ginny made it clear that she preferred to give each friend their gift in private, and she wanted to catch up on some much needed sleep. With a sigh of relief, Hermione dashed into the bathroom to grab her robe and took the stairs to the common room two at a time.   
  
  
  
"Finally! We didn't want to start without you, but it took a great deal of restraining Ron from the presents. I was afraid he might rip into everything if you didn't get here soon!" Harry smiled up at her from his posisiton on the couch that had been drug into the center of the room. The three rearranged the furniture in the common room the night before. They were three out of the six Gryffindors staying home, two others being 1st years who liked to sleep in, and the other one Ginny, who was sleeping in as well. They had the large room to themselves, but they wasted no time digging into the presents once Hermione showed up.  
  
  
  
"All right! Thanks, Minny!" Ron had dove into his pile, fishing out Hermione's present first. She found a perfect present for him in a Quidditch shop in Hogsmeade--a giftbox that held small replicas of the Chudley Cannons, Ron's favorite team. He tore the lid off and removed them all, setting them up on the floor in front of him. The whole team looked up at him, shrugged, and sat down and began to converse with one another. Ron was mesmerized.   
  
  
  
"No problem, Ron. I knew you'd love it." She looked over at Harry, who held the usual Weasley sweater, a tin of 'tarts' from Hagrid, a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Ron, and Hermione's present, an extension of the Broomstick Servicing Kit she had sent him two years before, for his birthday. Harry looked up at smiled brightly at his two best friends. "Thanks, Ron! This is what I need to complete my collection."  
  
  
  
"Uh-huh," Ron replied absentmindendly. He didn't bother to raise his fixed gaze from the floor, where the the Cannons were doing the amazing feat of...nothing. Hermione giggled, and looked down at her own presents. Her mother and father had sent her a photo album, filled with pictures of America. Her parents smiled up at her from almost every photograph, and her eyes briefly filled with tears. She wished she could be with them, but if she wasn't with family, then at least she could be with friends. She wiped her eyes and moved the photo album aside and opened Harry's present.   
  
  
  
"I thought you could use it, for the rest of the holidays and during the rest of the year. I know how hard it is for you to be away from your parents," Harry offered as an explination. His gift had been a stationary kit, filled with three bottles of different colored ink, a package of quills, and an exceptionally long roll of parchment.   
  
  
  
"Thank you, Harry. I love it," she smiled back at her friend. She moved it aside, next to the photo album, and picked up Ron's present. It's weight surprised her, and she opened quickly. It was a brand new book, with the shiny silver title grinning up at her.  
  
  
  
"'A Guide to Famous Witches'," Ron read, finally looking up from the Cannons (who were napping.) "You're going to be in it one day, so why not go ahead and let you read up on those you'll be in leauge with." Hermione smiled brightly, thanked him, and let him get back to watching the Cannons snore.   
  
  
  
"I'm going to wake Ginny up, you guys. I want to give her my present first, so wait until I come back down, okay?" Harry stood up and grabbed a box out of his robe pocket. Grinning at his two friends seated on the floor, he dashed up the stairs to Ginny's room.  
  
  
  
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"Oh, Harry, I just can't thank you enough!" Hermione smiled across the table at Ginny, finally awake. After Harry went back downstairs, grinning with delight at the reaction his gift had gotten, the other two went up and recieved their gifts from Ginny as well. Now the four were seated at the Gryffindor table, eating breakfast, blissfully alone.   
  
  
  
"Oh!" A large tawny owl suddenly landed in front of her breakfast plate. It was unusual to recieve post on Christmas, so she figured it could be either bad news or something incredibly wonderful. She carefully unrolled the parchment around its leg, watching at the owl clicked its beak and flew away. She glanced at the name written gracefully on the outside of the letter, and then broke into a smile. "Here, Ron, I think this is for you," she said in a singsong voice.  
  
  
  
"Waf's fis?" he asked, his mouth full of bacon. "Oh..." he swallowed his mouthful and excused himself. Hermoine waited until he was safely out of earshot to laugh.   
  
  
  
"It's from Beatrice," she explained, leaning across the table to Harry. He, too, laughed, and Ginny broke into a grin.   
  
  
  
"You think he's bad now? You should have seen him when she was in PERSON," she giggled. "Quiet now, he's coming back. He's very touchy about her, you know," she said softly, then smiled as Ron sat back down.   
  
  
  
"Interesting mail, Ron?" Harry asked.   
  
  
  
"Ah, well. It was nothing," he replied, the tips of his ears turning red. "I wish it would go ahead and snow."   
  
  
  
Hermione, Harry, and Ginny looked up to where Ron was gazing. The enchanted ceiling  
  
still showed the same bleak sky that had been hanging above their heads for days. It was getting to be rather depressing. Hermione leaned back, full to the brim with Hogwarts delicious food. "I think I'll go to the library. It'll be nice and peaceful, so I can get a head start on the essay Snape assigned. Anybody want to join me?" she asked her friends seated around her.  
  
  
  
"Um, Hermoine? It's the holidays. Can't you think about something other than school work for once?" Harry asked jokingly. Hermione laughed, shook her head, and giggled to herself as she got up and left her baffled friends at the breakfast table.  
  
  
  
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"Wow," Hermoine said to herself. She'd been in the library all day, and it was growing darker by the minute. The library had been deserted, except for Madame Pince, who was sitting at the desk, looking bored. She sat back in her chair, throwing her quill down in exasperation. It was absurd for Professer Snape to assign such a large essay, and she was beginning to realize that it was going to be harder than she thought. Sighing, with both exasperation and exhaustion, she gathered up her things and walked out of the library, determined to come back the next day and finish her work.  
  
  
  
The dark hallways were dimly lit by the torches flicking every few feet along the walls. The shadows cast by the dancing flames had an odd kind of calming effect on Hermione's nerves. She stopped and leaned aganist the wall, stifling a yawn and rested her head aganist the cool stone. Her thoughts drifted back to the past few days:  
  
  
  
"I met her over summer break, and she's very...well..."  
  
  
  
"Oh, I wanna show you what I got for Ginny. I think she'll love it, don't you?"  
  
  
  
"Everybody's got an angel...everybody but me."  
  
  
  
Hermione reached up to wipe something from her face. The heat from the torch beside her must have made her sweat, or something...she couldn't be crying. She wiped something else from below her eye...she was crying. "It's so unfair," she thought outloud.  
  
  
  
"Whats unfair?"   
  
  
  
Hermione jumped and stifled a scream. She whipped her head towards the voice, and saw Malfoy standing in the door way of an empty classroom. She let out all her breath, and shook her head. "It's nothing," she answered.  
  
  
  
"Wanna talk about it?"   
  
  
  
Everything in Hermione gave out. The way that he leaned aganist the door frame, one arm up above his head, the way his eyes looked so inviting and comforting, the way his voice carried through the hallway and floated into her ears--it all just overwhelmed her. Every rational thought she ever had about how she could never be attracted to him, how nothing could ever happen between them--they all fled her mind. Holding back tears, she nodded and followed Malfoy into the classroom.  
  
  
  
"I don't know what's the matter with me, Draco," she said softly. She felt so stupid! Why had she broken down? Why had she come in here with him? If anybody saw, they would be done for. All those rational thoughts that had escaped her sudeenly came running back.   
  
  
  
"Well, I have something that might make you feel better. I...well I got you something for Christmas," he said. She looked up at him, surprised. Instantly her surprise faded into guilt, and regret.   
  
  
  
"I'm flattered, Draco. But I didn't get you anything, I'm sorry."  
  
  
  
"No, no, Hermione. It's okay. Just open it," he said soothingly. He handed her the brown package that he had drew out of his cloak. She took it from his hands, his fingers brushing hers. She noticed that he was turning pink.  
  
  
  
"Oh!" Her breath caught in her throat. Wrapped in the brown paper was a small angel statue, perfectly detailed. The angel's eyes were closed, indicating that she was asleep.   
  
  
  
"Wait, watch," Malfoy said. He cupped his hands under Hermione's and raised them to his mouth. He softly blew on the angel, and the marvelous statue started to sparkle as she blinked her eyes, sat up, and started to flutter towards the ceiling.  
  
  
  
"Oh, Draco, it's beautiful," Hermione said, barely audible. "I...I don't know what else to say!"  
  
  
  
"Hermione?" Malfoy's voice had lost its confident air, and he seemed to be struggling for words. "I...I overheard you talking to Harry at the Hogsmeade gates. I don't have an angel either." He raised his icey eyes to her cinnamon ones, and they locked gazes.  
  
  
  
"Why...I mean, Draco...that's...we can't...why didn't you tell me?"   
  
  
  
He didn't answer her, but instead drew himself up from the desk he was sitting on. Hermione couldn't look at him as he walked a few steps forward, coming to stand right infront of her. "Look at me, Hermione," he said softly. When she didn't raise her head, he hooked his finger underneath her chin and raised his eyes to hers. "I was too afraid to try," was his answer.  
  
  
  
The next thing she new, Malfoy's mouth was on hers, and she found herself in the most passionate moment of her life. His hands circled around her back, sending shivers up and down her spine. Almost automatically her lips parted, his tounge running across her bottom lip. It was almost too much, she almost had to let go, but she couldn't. The need for air finally overcame their need for each other, and they broke apart. Hermione rested her head aganist Malfoy's chest, listening to his heart pounding, her breath the same rate as his. She realized that the warmth she felt in her dream was here, in his arms. She smiled to herself.  
  
  
  
"You can be my angel, Hermione," he whispered into her hair.   
  
  
  
Outside, it started snowing. 


	5. In Draco's Room

[Disclaimer: You know how it goes. I own none of this. Oh, by the way, the reason why I haven't updated in a week or so is because they REVOKED MY UPLOADING PRIVLAGES because I wrote a story that had the American Idol Judges in it, and I can't use real people. It made me mad.]  
  
The next morning, Hermione woke up half-asleep, half-awake. The previous nights events swirled around in her head, and she couldn't remember if it was all just a wonderful dream, or if it had really happened.  
  
  
  
Then it it her. It had really happened. She sat up and looked around, but didn't she Ginny. She exhaled, glad to be alone in the room, so she could reflect on what had happened. She went over every little detail in her mind, relishing the fact that she had experienced something so incredible, but dispising the fact that she couldn't share it with anybody. When they were leaving to go to their respective common rooms, he had asked her to meet him in the Entrance Hall after breakfast. She had told him that she didn't know if that was possible, because everybody leaving breakfast would see them together, but he told her he had already thought up a diversion. They stood there, in the doorway of the classroom, just looking at each other, forgetting for a moment that somebody could walk by and see a Slytherin and a Gryffindor together. It was Malfoy that snapped back to his senses first. "Goodbye, Hermione. Plesant dreams," he told her softly, then kissed her on the lips, lingering for just a second. Then, with a turn of his heel and a swish of his cloak, he walked down the hallway, dissapearing around the corner.  
  
  
  
Hermione dropped back down on her pillow. This was so amazing!   
  
  
  
Then reality came like a slap in the face, causing her to sit up again. This wasn't possible. They couldn't be together! She was insane for even thinking for a minute that it could work out. Even if they managed to keep it a secret, sooner or later somebody would find out, or get suspicious, or see them together, and they would be destroyed. She couldn't risk that, she wouldn't risk that. Finally getting up from off her bed, she made up her mind: She would tell him after breakfast that it wouldn't work out, that they could never be together.  
  
  
  
She dressed quickly, and left her room the same time Harry and Ron were emerging from theirs. Ron smiled at her, and instantly she felt like a traitor. Ron hated Malfoy, HATED him-how could she do this to her best friend? She swallowed her guilt for the moment and smiled back. "What say we head down to breakfast? I think Ginny's already gone down, Harry," Ron said to the both of them.  
  
  
  
Instantly, the lump in her throat that she had swallowed jumped back, only instead of guilt, it was fear. She was supposed to meet Malfoy after breakfast. She was supposed to tell him that it would never work out. 'Yes, Hermoine,' she said to herself, 'you CAN do this, and you WILL do this, understand?' She nodded.  
  
  
  
"Uh, Hermoine?" She looked up and saw Harry and Ron staring at her. "Are you okay? Is there anything you need to talk about?"  
  
  
  
Her cheeks flushed pink, but she shook her head. "No, I'm perfectly fine. Nothing that a little breakfast wouldn't fix!" she said with false cheeriness. "I'm starving, lets go, shall we?"   
  
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Hermione ate slowly, trying to avoid the morning's breakfast coming to an end. She couldn't stop it, though, so finally she gave up and slumped back. "Hermione, are you sure you're okay?" Harry asked her, with concern in his green eyes. "You're not really yourself this morning."   
  
  
  
She looked up at her best friend, smiling a false smile. "I'm fine. I guess the holidays have me lagged, or something like that. Nothing to worry about!" There was that false cheeriness again.   
  
  
  
"Well, chaps, I'm stuffed. I'm all for going back to the common room and playing some chess, eh, Harry?" Ron looked up from his empty breakfast plate, patting his stomach.   
  
  
  
"Sure, Ron. Ginny, Hermione, want to come watch?" Harry asked the two girls.   
  
  
  
"Why not, Harry. I'm all for seeing my brother beat the stuffings out of my boyfriend," Ginny said jokingly. Hermione watched them, wishing that that was the kind of realtionship her and Malfoy could have. But it would never work. It could never work. She didn't regard Harry's invitation, but instead followed them out into the entrance hall.   
  
  
  
"Oh, gross, somebody set off about a thousand dungbombs! Come on, you guys!" Hermione knew at once what Malfoy's diversion was. She smiled, and it reminded her of Fred and George Weasley. She turned at watch her friends race up the Grand Staircase, smiling, then turned back to the Entrance Hall, scanning for Malfoy. When everybody had gone from the Hall, he appeared, standing on the top step of a corner staircase.   
  
  
  
"Hermoine." His voice carried across the Hall to her ears, and she almost melted. Pulling herself together, she walked over to where he was standing, and opened her mouth to tell him that they couldn't do this, but he quieted her. "Wait, Hermione. I've got to tell you something first, but not here. Come with me." He took her hand and led her down the staircase, until they reached the Slytherin common room. It was deserted, but he ran through it anyway, dashing up the stairs that led to the boys dorm rooms.   
  
  
  
"Wow," was all that she could say. Malfoy had his own room, for some reason, and it was exquisite. A fire burned on one wall, luminating the huge four-poster bed and the rich mahogany furniture. She sat down on a loveseat in front of the fire, still awed by this amazing room.   
  
  
  
"Dad arranged for me to live by myself. That's why I have my own room. Look, Hermione, I've gotta tell you something. This can't work between us. It could never work, and I was crazy for doing what I did last night. But, Hermione...I can't help it when it comes to you. You make me want to be a better person, and I don't want anything other than to be with you. But it could never happen, it could never be possible...I look at people like Harry and Ginny Weasley, and I want what they have, but that'll never happen. I'm sorry if I hurt you in anyway, but I had to tell you."  
  
  
  
Hermione was taken aback. Everything she was planning to say all came out of his mouth. Surprisingly, even though she was planning on saying everything he had said, it killed her. She got up from her seat and walked around to where she was standing in front of Malfoy, by the bed. "I was planning on telling you everything you just told me," she said quietly. Emotion over took her, and she sat down on the edge of the bed. "But I didn't think it would hurt so much."  
  
  
  
"Oh, Hermione," Malfoy whispered, sitting down next to her. "I did. It killed me to say all that, and it killed me to watch your face. The last thing I want is to hurt you, but that's all that I've managed to do. We both know that it could never work, though, Hermione! What's the point of putting ourselves through that when we both know that nothing could ever come of us being together?"  
  
  
  
"I know," she said quietly, on the verge of tears. Was it only this morning when she was relishing the nights events? Was it only this morning that she lay in bed, thinking that it was all so amazing? Sighing, she got up from the bed, leaving Malfoy still sitting. "I think maybe I should leave now, if that's okay," she said, trying to keep the tears from spilling over her eyes. She opened the door, not realizing that it was dangerous to go strolling through the Slytherin common room. She was halfway down the staircase when she heard the door open behind her.  
  
  
  
"Hermione, wait!" Malfoy came running down the stairs after her. He took her hand again, and led her back up to the room, shutting the door and pinning her aganist it. "I wasn't insane to do what I did last night. I was insane thinking that I could let you get away," he told her, staring into her eyes. She couldn't reply, so she just stood there, looking back into his.   
  
  
  
"Please say something, Hermione, please," he begged her. She leaned in and pressed her lips to his. After drawing back, he led her to the bed, where he wrapped her in his arms and put her head to his chest.   
  
  
  
It felt so wonderful...to just lay there in his arms...not speaking, not moving, barely even breathing. How had this happened? It was supposed to be forbidden. Did she care? Did either of them care? She didn't know, and at the moment, it didn't really matter because she had everything she needed in his embrace. 


End file.
